Veterans Day events include memorial, speakers, parade

By MATT SANDERS

Southeast Missourian

Veterans Day activities in the Southeast Missouri area will dedicate a revamped war memorial in Scott County, honor the memory of Jackson native Cpl. Jeremy Shank, who was killed this summer in Iraq, and celebrate veterans with a night of music and dancing at the Arena Building.

Ceremonies honoring veterans will be held starting Thursday throughout Southeast Missouri , from a memorial service for Medal of Honor recipients at the Stars and Stripes Museum/Library in Bloomfield to ceremonies held at local schools prior to the official observance of the holiday on Saturday.

One of the highlights of the Veterans Day events is the dedication of Scott County's updated war memorial on the courthouse grounds in Benton. A ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday to dedicate the memorial, which lists the names of the county's war dead since World War I. An honor band of about 100 high school students selected from schools throughout the county will perform at the ceremony, said county developer Joel Evans. Another featured performer will be Ferlin Husky -- a country and western musician who gained notoriety for his song "On the Wings of a Dove."

Evans said Col. Jack Jackson, who ran for state auditor in this year's Missouri primary elections, will be the featured speaker, Evans said.

Work in continuing on the memorial this week. "It will be ready at the last minute, but it will be ready," Evans said.

Two ceremonies at area schools prior to Saturday will focus on the sacrifice of Shank, an 18-year-old killed in early September by enemy small arms fire in Iraq. The first ceremony will take place at 8:15 a.m. Friday at Scott City Middle School, where the soldier's father, Jim Shank, will speak to the entire student body of Scott City's public schools.

Scott City Middle School principal Michael Umfleet said he asked Shank to speak at the school so students can understand the real impact of war and the sacrifice some individuals make to protect their country.

A ceremony at the Jackson High School Auditorium at 9 a.m. Saturday will also honor Shank, who attended school there until May 2005. Shank was the second Jackson resident to be killed in combat in recent years. Sgt. Robert Davis was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in August 2005.

High school principal Rick McClard said many of the high school's current students attended classes with Shank, so the trauma of his death is very personal to the school. Members of the Shank family will most likely be in attendance, he said.

Central High School will again forgo Veterans Day ceremonies this year, due to the lack of an auditorium facility, said school librarian Julia Jorgensen, who used to organize the ceremonies.

"The tribute we did for 10 years didn't move well to be put into a gym, and we felt that we would not be giving the veterans the honor they deserved," she said.

However, Cape Girardeau will host what organizers hope will become a new Veterans Day tradition -- the Patriot's Ball. The event will take place at the Arena Building at 6 p.m. Saturday and will include a salute to veterans and music by the Jerry Ford Orchestra. The Patriot's Ball will raise money to pay for monuments for locals who served in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II and Korea to be installed in Cape Girardeau, said organizer Rodger Brown. An award will also be given to the Patriot of the Year. The event is sponsored by the local chapter of the Vietnam War veterans organization VietNow.

"There was a time when patriotism seemed to be everywhere ... and that kind of thing isn't happening anymore," said Brown. "We're just trying to find a way to bring that patriotism back."

In other Veterans Day ceremonies:

* Notre Dame Regional High School will honor veterans at 2 p.m. Thursday with an assembly featuring Vietnam War veterans Blair Moran of Sikeston, Mo., and Joe Frank of Sunset Hills, Mo. Frank currently serves as vice chairman of the Missouri Veterans Commission and as advisor to the American Legion's national commander.

* Kelly High School will host its annual Veterans Day assembly at 9 a.m. Friday with guest speaker Sgt. Jedediah M. Vermillion. Veterans are invited to come at 8:30 a.m. for coffee and doughnuts in the school library.

* A ceremony will be held at 9:45 a.m. Friday at the Veterans Park in Sikeston.

* A Veterans Day parade will take place at 4 p.m. Friday in Jackson. The 1140th Engineer Battalion of the Missouri National Guard will participate in the parade, and a ceremony will follow at the New McKendree United Methodist Chapel.

* The Cape Girardeau VFW post will host a picnic at noon Saturday at its new hall on Kingshighway.

* The Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield will host a ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday with featured speaker retired Col. Wayne Medley of Jefferson City. The ceremony is the first to be held at the cemetery in its three-year history.

* The Stars and Stripes Museum/Library will honor four deceased Medal of Honor recipients from the Southeast Missouri area: Sgt. Darrell S. Cole of Flat River, Pvt. Billie G. Kanell of Poplar Bluff, PFC Richard Wilson of Cape Girardeau and 1st Lt. George K. Sissler of Dexter. Ceremonies begin at 2 p.m. with the celebration of the Stars and Stripes newspaper's 145th anniversary. A ceremony honoring the Medal of Honor winners will follow at 2:30 p.m., with Dexter native Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, deputy director for operations for the U.S. Army National Guard, as the featured speaker. At 3 p.m. more than 20 Order of the Silver Rose medals will be given out. The medals are given by a private not-for-profit group to honor soldiers who suffered health effects from Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam.

* A candlelight vigil will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Twin City Park in Marble Hill.

All events are open to the public.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182